Alex Iskold, an American investor and IT entrepreneur of Ukrainian descent, has relaunched 1K Project, a charity project in which sponsors can directly donate $ 1,000 to Ukrainian families affected by the war. This is reported by CNBC. 

1K Project appeared in 2020. Then Alex and his partner created it to support Ukrainian families during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now the project has been refocused on helping those affected by Russian aggression. 

“There are a lot of ways to donate money, but when you donate it directly, you know that one family is getting better because you helped them,” Alex Iskold says.   

Less than a month after the relaunch, 1K Project has raised $ 3.5 million to support Ukrainians. This means that 3,500 families have already received assistance. However, 70,000 are still waiting for it, and applications continue to come in. The organizers encourage individual and corporate sponsors to continue to contribute.

According to Alex, $ 1,000 for a family of three or four will be enough for only a month. “It’s a powerful call to action because companies can make a big difference, and we’re sure we’re offering the right way to help. We hope that the companies will respond and help us reach more families, ” the businessman said. 

Alex Iskold emigrated to the United States in the early 1990s, at the age of 19. Now he is an IT entrepreneur and investor in New York, helping Ukraine with what he knows best. 

The 1K Project team includes more than 50 volunteers from the USA, Latvia, Ukraine, France and Kazakhstan. Engineers from companies such as Techstars, Yahoo, Mozilla, Venmo, and Citigroup are responsible for the technical part of the project. The engineering challenges are huge, but Iskold’s strong team and technology expertise help them cope. 

The system is now almost fully automated even when it comes to checking for bugs. However, technical support letters and SMS for families still mean additional work for the team. 

To get help, families must fill out a form. They also need a local currency card. After the application is processed by the volunteer, the information is passed to the sponsor, who transfers the funds through the multicurrency service Wise.

Cryptocurrencies that are converted into hryvnia are also transferred to help Ukrainian families. The Meta Angels digital community has even created a set of unique NFTs and earned about $ 50,000 for the 1K Project.

According to Iskold, many feel they should help Ukrainians. They are witnessing the war and looking for ways to help. 1K Project gives them an opportunity to do that.